The left “will take every opportunity” to turn an occasion like the civil rights icon John Lewis’ funeral into “a political moment,” Dr. Alveda King said Friday.
In an interview on “Fox & Friends,” King said he should have hoped that former President Barack Obama would “seize” the opportunity.
“I chose not to politicize Congressman Lewis’s death, but to remember him as a peaceful and non-violent warrior and to encourage everyone to resolve our conflicts peacefully,” he said.
OBAMA, UNITED BY THE PRESIDENTS OF THE PAST, EULOGIZA REP. JOHN LEWIS AT THE ATLANTA CHURCH OF MLK
“Now, I know this is a celebration of John’s life. There are some who might say we shouldn’t think about those things. But that’s why I’m talking about it,” Obama explained to attendees at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. . “John Lewis devoted his time on this Earth to fighting the same attacks on democracy and what’s best in America that we are seeing circulate now.”
He then launched into a discussion, addressing a host of issues, including the Voting Rights Act, granting State status to the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, making Election Day a national holiday, implementing automatic registration of voters, getting rid of the Senate filibuster, and Civil unrest across the country following the death of George Floyd.
However, according to King, Obama distorted the story when “it took us back to the 1960s.”
Earlier in his speech, Obama reflected on the life of young activist Lewis, who had been beaten by state soldiers during the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march known as “Bloody Sunday.”
Former President Barack Obama addresses the service during the funeral of the late Representative John Lewis, a Democrat from Georgia, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Thursday, July 30, 2020. (Alyssa Pointer / Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool )
“And that was a time when segregation was still on the books, segregation was still legal and those in power … some of them were trying to enforce that and keep it,” recalled Martin Luther’s niece. King Jr.
“Today, when the National Guard, sent by the president, for example, or the state police comes in, they are trying to protect the people of the United States in every community. And, to save lives and protect people,” he said. “There is an entirely different difference.”
As he grew older, Lewis battled oppression in other ways, leading to a five-period career representing the state of Georgia.
King said drawing parallels without naming names and claiming there is “an effort to undermine the voting process” was an incorrect characterization of the current administration’s message before the November presidential election.
“You know, President Trump is actually saying, ‘People, please pay attention. We want you to vote. Use your ballots absent. Go to the polls.’ He has even encouraged, you know, people to be observant and poll workers and that kind of thing, “he said.
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“President Trump is not trying to suppress the vote,” said King. “We want people to vote safely. And, we need the voting process to be fair. And so, to politicize the funeral of a peaceful warrior, I mean, I suppose they took the opportunity to be political,” he concluded. .
Marisa Schultz of Fox News contributed to this report.
